Posted by Michael Wonder on 20 Jul 2018
Trump’s drug price push butts into two megadeals
20 July 2018 - A proposal seemingly targeting the middlemen of the process may alter the math on more than $100 billion of M&A.
The Trump administration’s budget office was sent a proposal by the Health and Human Services Department late Wednesday that seems to target pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen in the pricing process — as part of efforts to change the way drugs are paid for.
In doing so, the measure stands to alter the math of two huge pending tie-ups in the industry: the $67.5 billion acquisition of insurer Aetna by PBM giant CVS Health, and the $54 billion takeover of PBM Express Scripts by insurer Cigna.
